Redbird and Ramblers Set For Matchup On Tuesday

NORMAL, Ill. – A former Missouri Valley Conference in-state rivalry will be renewed on Tuesday, when Illinois State (2-1) travels to Chicago to take on the Loyola Chicago Ramblers (1-3) for a non-conference tilt at Gentile Arena. Tip off is set for 6 p.m., and the game can be watched live on ESPN+.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Loyola Chicago will meet for the 26th in program history, with Illinois State leading the series 17-8. The two teams have not played since 2022, when the Ramblers were still members of the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU has won six of the last seven meetings against LUC overall, including the last three matchups between the two squads. ISU has won is last three games against Loyola Chicago at Gentile Arena.

THE FASTBREAK
• Illinois State and Loyola Chicago will meet for the first times since the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference tournament, before the Ramblers departed for the A-10.
• ISU is coming off a big 102-52 win last week over Chicago State in the team's annual Education Day game that saw over 7,500 elementary students and fans cheer on the Redbirds.
• The 100-point output for the Redbirds was their first since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December.
• Nevaeh Thomas was one of five Redbirds in double figures, with 15 points and nine rebounds in addition to four assists and a blocked shot against Chicago State.
• The Redbirds outscored Dayton by 11 points in the third quarter to pull away for an 87-76 win on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena in the 2025-26 season opener. The Redbirds shot 51 percent from the field and had four players in doubles figures as ISU won its fourth-straight season opener and its sixth in the last seven seasons overall. 
• Illinois State advanced to the WNIT Semifinal for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2011. The Redbirds made three consecutive WNIT semifinal runs from 2009 to 2011, earning six wins over Power 5 foes across the three runs. The Redbirds made their 16th appearance all-time in the WNIT and their fourth trip to the WNIT in Kristen Gillespie's tenure.
• The Redbirds were 24-13 overall last season, including a 14-6 mark in MVC play and a 14-4 record at home at CEFCU Arena. Illinois State secured a 20-win campaign for the third-straight season, a streak that leads all DI women's teams in the state of Illinois. 
• Illinois State returns seven players from last season's squad that advanced to the WNIT Fab 4, including MVC All-Freshman team selection Doneelah Washington and All-MVC Newcomer team member Addison Martin. 
• Martin and Nevaeh Thomas were listed among several Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball "Players to Watch" for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

SCOUTING THE RAMBLERS
•  The Ramblers aim to improve on last season's 13-17 ledger and they return eight letterwinners from the 2024-25 roster. 
•  They include senior point guard Kira Chivers who started 25 of 28 games in 2024–25, leading Loyola in steals per game (1.1) and ranking 16th in the A-10 in assists (2.9).
• Loyola Chicago mounted a furious second-half comeback but couldn't overcome a slow start Sunday afternoon, falling 70–67 to Maryland Eastern Shore at Gentile Arena. With the loss, the Ramblers fell to 1-3 on the season, which includes a loss to No. 1 Connecticut on the road.
• The Ramblers are led in scoring by Audrey Deptula, who is averaging 10.0 points per contest while averaging 3.7 rebounds per game. Alexa Kinas has also been solid in four start for the Ramblers, averaging 7.3 points and a team-best 4.8 rebounds per game to go along with a team-high 10 assists on the year.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
• Illinois State's final basket of the game with just 33 seconds left put the Redbirds over the century mark witn 101 points, much to the delight of the thousands of kids in the stands chanting for 100 against Chicago State.
• It marked the first 100-point output for the Redbirds was since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December, and it was the fourth time under head coach Kristen Gillespie that ISU eclipsed the century mark.

THREEBAY UNLOCKED
• The first basket for Illinois State against Dayton was a three-pointer, but it came from an unexpected shooter in Doneelah Washington who made her first two career shots from beyond the arch against the Flyers.
• That performance sparked a big day for the sophomore from Nebraska, who became the first Redbird since the 2009-10 season with 20+ points in a game on a perfect night shooting from the field.

FAYTA TAKES OVER
• In her first career start, Trista Fayta tallied the first double-double of her career with 19 points and 10 assists against Dayton.
• Her complete performance turned out to be a unique one, as Fayta become just the second MVC player in the last 14 seasons to put up 19 points, 10 assists and 4 or more steals in a game.
• With her 10 assists, she became the first Redbirds to post double digit assists since JuJu Redmond in 2022.

MID-MAJOR LOVE
• Illinois State is ranked No. 13 in the preseason CollegeInsiders.com women's basketball Mid-Major Top 25 poll. 
• The Redbirds are one of three Missouri Valley Conference teams listed, including Murray State (No. 9) and Belmont (No. 15).

BALANCED EFFORT
• The Redbirds finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 25 games last season and did so again in the 2025-26 opener against Dayton. Illinois State is 33-9 when putting 4+ in double-figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
 • Over the last three seasons, Illinois State has finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 42 games, and 5+ double-figure scorers in 13 games. 

THE REDBIRD STATE
•  Since 2020-2021 the Redbirds have been statistically been the most successful DI women's program in the state of Illinois. 
• The Redbirds lead all DI women's basketball programs in the state of Illinois with 105 total wins and a 64.0 winning percentage over that stretch. 
• Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 43-11 against in-state foes.
• That includes an 8-1 mark against in-state foes in 2024-25, which improved the Redbirds to 22-2 against in-state foes over the last three seasons.
• Illinois State has won 6-plus games over in-state foes in each of the last six seasons.

PLAYERS TO WATCH 
• Illinois State returns seven players from last season's squad that advanced to the WNIT Fab 4, including MVC All-Freshman team selection Doneelah Washington and All-MVC Newcomer team member Addison Martin. 
• Martin and Nevaeh Thomas were listed among several Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball "Players to Watch" for the upcoming 2025-26 season. 
• Martin started all 37 games for Illinois State and was one of six Redbirds to break the program's single-season record for games played. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native reached double figures in 18 games, including two 20+ point performances, with a season-high of 23 points scored against SIU.
• Thomas averaged 12.1 points per game, a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game while ranking fifth in the MVC shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Thomas scored in double figures in 29 games, including the first 15 outings of the season, and tallied ten double-doubles, becoming just the sixth player in program history to tally 10+ double-doubles in a single season

POSTSEASON STAPLE
• Illinois State earned its fifth-straight postseason bid under head coach Kristen Gillespie in 2024-25, which includes a trip to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. 
• It marked just the second time in the NCAA era (1981-82 to pres.) that the program has earned a postseason bid in at least five consecutive seasons. 
• In the longest consecutive postseason stretch in the program's NCAA history, Illinois State earned seven-straight bids from 2007 to 2013. That included a 2008 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, one of six in the history of the program.